Apple Posts Video of iBooks and iTunes U Media Event

Following today's media event that saw the introduction of iBooks 2 with new iPad digital textbooks alongside expanded iTunes U functionality, Apple has now posted video of the event to its site. The video is also available as a podcast video download in HD and standard formats. Among today's announcements:

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What nonsense. You have to carry a few books around at Uni, so what? Did this really need 'fixing'? I didn't pass all the time ago through moaning about a heavy bag, students just get on with it. And most of the time you're in a library anyway, tucked away with your own stash of books. I can have as many books as I want open, and just used some PostIt's to keep important pages. You own a book;

[LIST=1]
* It doesn't live off a battery.
* You drop it, it doesn't smash.
* You buy the books you need without a base cost just to 'read' them.
* Re-sell value.
* Using 'real' books would develop better cognitive skills than learning how to use an iPad.

Call it sentimental value, but I can't see myself warming to a virtual 'textbook' in my iBook shelf, which is basically a piece of a software anyway. Many of the texts I bought for University are beautiful things, and I pride having them sit on my shelf, ready to flick through. They may not be 'interactive', but isn't that what an imagination is for?
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Back in my day we WALKED to school. We didn't have no SCHOOOOOL BUS. NO SIR! We walked in the snow uphill, BOTH WAYS! We didn't need no new-fangled CAL-CU-LA-TERS. We counted on our fingers. Some kids didn't even have ten fingers because they lost some to frost bight in the snow. But, that was the way it was, and we liked it. BY GOLLY WE LOVED IT!

apple corp. want educate the children with its version of history, science, religion ect. through these "interactive books". Social Lobotomy.

Did you watch something different than the rest of us? They introduced authoring, publishing and distribution tools today; they did not announce any of their own books. In fact there is no original content outside of tutorials for Apple products available from Apple in iTunes or iBooks. So I do not know where you came to the conclusion that Apple has any particular point of view on history, science or religion they want to put in children's heads.

I think the part that everyone has missed so far in the whole presentation is the amount of money the states will save and the ecological bit of this announcement.

First, Texas was the first ones to go to the all digital idea, one that saves the state $2 Billion USD per year. Imagine a state like California with its 55 million people and how much they could save (10-15 billion USD a year).

Not to mention the amount of trees which would be saved. There would no longer be a need to cut down millions of trees just to create a book which in 2 years or less would be thrown away. Now books will be online, re-downloadable, and updateable without having to print a second or third edition.

Everyone is complaining about the glare or other little things but look at the bigger picture. This will make everyone get the same materials (not always a good thing but better than the have-havenots we have now). It would also allow teachers to create their own materials which they could use to save even more money. This leaves more money in the system to buy facilities, equipment and other necessity items.

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